1. to act as arbiter upon (a disputed question) : to settle (a dispute between two people or groups) after hearing the arguments and opinions of both. A process in which an independent person makes an official decision that ends a legal disagreement without the need for it to be solved in court.1. To judge or decide in or as in the manner of an arbitrator: arbitrate a dispute between neighbors. 2. When an uninvolved, impartial person is called in to help settle a dispute, it's called arbitration. Intransitive verb To submit a dispute to arbitration. From The Century Dictionary. It's where parties involved in a dispute agree to settle their differences. DFS Proposes Health Equity Regulation. Orgwith the subject line, "ARBITRATION OPT-OUT". The word arbitrate can also be used in a more general way meaning "to determine or settle a dispute," similar to the word mediate.